Zhongwen Enhanced: Chinese-English Dictionary

Tracking since Jun 5, 2026.

Changelog

• Jun 11, 2026
  description

  Zhongwen Enhanced is a Chinese-English pop-up dictionary and learning tool for your browser. Hover over Chinese text on any web page to instantly see its meaning, pinyin, and tones — then save words, study them, and break down whole sentences with AI.
  
  This is an actively maintained, open-source fork of the original Zhongwen extension, with improved design, vocabulary lists, a study mode, Anki/Pleco export, and optional added AI sentence breakdown via user-provided API.
  
  ── KEY FEATURES ──
  
  • Instant pop-up dictionary — just hover over a word or character to see its translation. No clicking required.
  • Supports both simplified and traditional characters (and you can choose to show only one).
  • Color-coded pinyin — each syllable is colored by its tone to help you learn faster.
  • Optional Zhuyin (Bopomofo) display.
  • Bundled offline dictionary — uses a recent release of the widely trusted CC-CEDICT. Lookups work entirely on your device, with no internet required.
  • AI sentence breakdown — select a Chinese sentence and get a word-by-word grammatical breakdown plus a natural translation, powered by your choice of Anthropic (Claude), Google (Gemini), or OpenAI. You use your own API key, and text is sent only to the provider you pick.
  • Built-in word lists — save words while you read, organize them into named lists, and add your own notes.
  • Study mode — review your saved words with spaced-repetition flashcards.
  • Export to Anki and Pleco for studying in your favorite app.
  • Quick links to grammar and usage notes on the Chinese Grammar Wiki.
  • Keyboard navigation for reading through text word by word.
  • One-click on/off — toggle the dictionary whenever you want it.
  
  ── PRIVACY ──
  
  • Dictionary lookups happen entirely on your device.
  • Your word lists, settings, and API keys are stored locally in your browser and are never sent to the developer.
  • Text is sent to a third-party AI service only when you actively use the sentence-breakdown feature, and only to the provider you configured, using your own API key.
  • Full privacy policy: https://github.com/Proe24/zhongwen-enhanced/blob/master/PRIVACY.md
  
  ── OPEN SOURCE ──
  
  Zhongwen Enhanced is free and open-source software, licensed under the GNU General Public License v2. It is based on the original Zhongwen by Christian Schiller. Source code, changelog, and issue tracker: https://github.com/Proe24/zhongwen-enhanced

  Zhongwen Enhanced is a Chinese-English pop-up dictionary and learning tool for your browser. Hover over Chinese text on any web page to instantly see its meaning, pinyin, and tones — then save words, study them, explore characters stroke by stroke, and break down whole sentences with optional AI.
  
  This is an actively maintained, open-source fork of the original Zhongwen extension, with improved design, vocabulary lists, a study mode, offline character details and thesaurus, Anki/Pleco export, and optional added AI sentence breakdown via user-provided API.
  
  ── KEY FEATURES ──
  
  • Instant pop-up dictionary — just hover over a word or character to see its translation. No clicking required.
  • Supports both simplified and traditional characters (and you can choose to show only one).
  • Color-coded pinyin — each syllable is colored by its tone to help you learn faster.
  • Optional Zhuyin (Bopomofo) display.
  • Bundled offline dictionary — uses a recent release of the widely trusted CC-CEDICT. Lookups work entirely on your device, with no internet required.
  • Character detail view — press E to see stroke-order animation, character decomposition, the radical, and etymology. Works fully offline.
  • Offline thesaurus — press L to see synonyms for the current word, with an online link-out for anything not in the offline data.
  • AI sentence breakdown — select a Chinese sentence and get a word-by-word grammatical breakdown plus a natural translation, powered by your choice of Anthropic (Claude), Google (Gemini), or OpenAI. You use your own API key, and text is sent only to the provider you pick.
  • Built-in word lists — save words while you read, organize them into named lists, and add your own notes.
  • Study mode — review your saved words with spaced-repetition flashcards.
  • Export to Anki and Pleco for studying in your favorite app.
  • Quick links to grammar and usage notes on the Chinese Grammar Wiki.
  • Keyboard navigation for reading through text word by word.
  • One-click on/off — toggle the dictionary whenever you want it.
  
  ── PRIVACY ──
  
  • Dictionary lookups, character details, and thesaurus all happen entirely on your device.
  • Your word lists, settings, and API keys are stored locally in your browser and are never sent to the developer.
  • Text is sent to a third-party AI service only when you actively use the sentence-breakdown feature, and only to the provider you configured, using your own API key.
  • Full privacy policy: https://github.com/Proe24/zhongwen-enhanced/blob/master/PRIVACY.md
  
  ── OPEN SOURCE ──
  
  Zhongwen Enhanced is free and open-source software, licensed under the GNU General Public License v2. It is based on the original Zhongwen by Christian Schiller. Source code, changelog, and issue tracker: https://github.com/Proe24/zhongwen-enhanced

Permissions & access

Permissions

contextMenustabsstorage

Host access

https://api.anthropic.com/*, https://generativelanguage.googleapis.com/*, https://api.openai.com/*

Screenshots